Witchcraft Shop Opened In Meriden

Witchcraft Shop Opens In Meriden

January 11, 1993|By LISA CHEDEKEL; Courant Staff Writer

MERIDEN — So far, Andrea Karanda has taken the taunts in stride.

There were the notes left in the mail slot of Incantations, her new store on Broad Street -- quotes from the Bible about God's goodness. There was the anonymous call to her home in the Yalesville section of Wallingford -- a man's voice mocking her as "a sweet little witch." There was the visitor to the store who told her she was evil.

Karanda's fiance, John Vance, who owns a tattoo parlor two doors down from Incantations, had warned her that his hometown wouldn't exactly embrace its first witchcraft store. He was right, she learned: It's no picnic being a Wiccan in Meriden.

"There's gossip around that this is a satanic shop ... but that's always how it is," said Karanda, 20, a psychology major at Middlesex Community College. "A lot of people only know what they see on TV about witchcraft, and they believe it. [But] this is the furthest thing from Satanism. ... The most important part of witchcraft is that you never do it to hurt anyone."

Karanda has been a practitioner of Wicca, an ancient form of witchcraft, since she was 12, she said. She learned about Wicca from her mother, who taught her spells and the three-fold law of witchcraft: The way you treat other people comes back at you three times as strong. Wiccans don't believe in God or the devil; they consider nature the highest power.

Karanda -- who said she doesn't like to be called a witch, "even though I am one" -- decided to open Incantations in a former video store after she returned from a visit to Salem, Mass., last year. She said she was disgusted by the "commercialization" of witchcraft and wanted to market her own line of Wicca knickknacks. When she found the vacant storefront near Vance's shop, she grabbed it.

Karanda calls Incantations an "occult/head shop." The small store's glass cases are stocked with witches' wares: silver amulets to ward off evil and attract love, seven-knob candles to burn for

peace of mind, and vials of "dragon's blood" to be used in spells to bring wealth. Karanda also sells pipes -- only to adults, she said -- and sterling silver jewelry.

Besides the few unpleasant comments tossed her way, Karanda said, her first weeks in business have gone smoothly. Neighbors haven't brought out the welcome wagon for her, she said, but they haven't raised a fuss, either. She's optimistic but wary. "I'm waiting for the picketers," she said, half-joking.

Grace Ho, co-owner of the Dragon Phoenix, a Chinese restaurant next door to Incantations, said she has no problem sharing the block with a witch.

"I don't even know what store is there," Ho said. "It's not too much different" than any other kind of shop.

Police said they've had no complaints about the shop. Mayor Angelo D'Agostino said he wasn't even aware it was there.

Karanda said a police lieutenant stopped by shortly after she opened last month -- not with a complaint, but to ask for advice on some candles he'd found in Hubbard Park. She told him she thought they might have been left by kids experimenting with the occult.

Some of Incantation's customers come out of curiosity, Karanda said; others come to buy. Many are in their teens or early 20s, but she's also done business with housewives and professionals.

"There is a big community of paganism in Meriden -- a lot bigger than I would have ever guessed," she said. "I'm really surprised."

Karanda said some teenage boys have come in asking for help in getting particular girls to like them. "I usually just tell them the whole spell -- I'm not a very good businesswoman," she said.

In less than two hours last week, Karanda sold two books on Wicca to a young woman who said she wanted to learn about witchcraft; turned away a regular customer who wanted to know if Karanda had gotten any new necklaces in (she hadn't), and fielded questions about her merchandise from two canine control officers and a pizza delivery man who had stopped by on other business but couldn't resist browsing.

And despite the special powers she might possess, she had to deal with the same interruption that many 20-years-olds, witches and mere mortals alike, must cope with: A phone call from her mother, checking in on her.

"OK, ma, OK," she said into the phone, rolling her eyes and smiling an un-witchlike smile. "Listen, can I call you later?